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Diana Gurtskaya, blind singer

Diana Gurtskaya, blind singer

Diana Gurtskaya is a Russian singer of Georgian origin, social activist, Honored Artist of Russia (2006). In addition, she is a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation.
Pretty Diana was born on July 2, 1978 in Sukhumi, Georgia, USSR. Blind from birth, she was the youngest of four children. Her elder brother Robert is her producer. At the age of 10 the girl made her debut at the Tbilisi Philharmonic Society, she sang a duet with the Georgian singer Irma Sokhadze.
Outstanding vocal talent ambition and hard work let Diana become the winner of the International Festival of Young Singers Yalta-Moscow-Transit 1995 and receive a special prize.
In 1999 Diana became the winner in the contest Slaviansky Bazar in Vitebsk, Belarus. She repeatedly became the winner of the Golden Gramophone, Song of the Year Awards and many others.
Talented she graduated from the pop department of the Moscow Gnesin Music College in 1999. And in 2003 she graduated from the Institute of Contemporary Art.
ARS studio released her debut album You Are Here in March 2000. Her second album You Know Mom was released in 2002.
You know, she represented Georgia at the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade, Serbia. To tell the truth, she became the first blind singer from Eastern Europe to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest.
The singer is an owner of many awards. Russian Honorable Artist award was given to her by president Vladimir Putin in 2007. Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili gave her a Medal of Honor. Award of Saint Barbara in Ukraine is amongst others.
Moreover, the singer has recorded duets with various well-known foreign singers, including Ray Charles, Toto Cutugno, and Demis Roussos.
In 2009, Gurtskaya received significant media attention after failing to obtain a visa from the British embassy due to her blindness. However, after a much publicized campaign, a visa was granted, and the rules were changed.
Sergei Balashov and Diana took part in the television show Dancing with the Stars in 2011. Beautiful singer became Ambassador of the Winter Sochi Olympics in 2014.
Also Diana helps blind and visually impaired children, regularly visits children’s pension houses and special schools for disabled children.

Personal life
In 2002, Irina Khakamada introduced Diana to a successful lawyer, Pyotr Kucherenko. Business cooperation, grown into friendship, eventually turned into a story of beautiful love.
On September 21, 2005 Diana married Peter Kucherenko (born on May 3, 1974). Together with his wife he created Blind Children’s Fund.
Diana gave birth to their son Konstantin on June 29, 2007.Source